Conned Jay Anson into writing about the time they spent in a supposedly haunted house. The real (and only) horror at the house occurred prior to Lutz's purchase when Ronald DeFeo Jr. went on a shooting rampage in the house, killing his parents and four siblings.

October 15, 2009 the world excited about the news of the six year old boy from Colorado, swept away a home-made balloon. His parents had previously participated in a reality show and wanted to become famous again.

In order to make ends, together with a friend he created a fake cupid which they aged in order to make it look ancient. The forgery wasn’t discovered for several years. Michelangelo was allowed to keep his share of the money because the statue was sculpted extremely well.

A mummified body of a creature that was half mammal and half fish. The original exhibit was popularized by circus great P.T. Barnum. It came into his possession via his counterpart Moses Kimball. In reality, it was made using either papier-mâché and materials from exotic fish, or the tail of a fish and a torso of a baby orangutan, stitched together with the head of a monkey.

Suggested “Idaho” as a name for the new state, claiming that it meant “the sun comes from the mountains” in a Native American language. Willing, a known eccentric, admitted that Idaho wasn’t a Native American word at all and claimed that he had simply made it up.

Brodie, supposedly jumped into the water from a height of 42 meters. Subsequently, it became clear that Steve’s pals threw a dummy off the bridge. But the revelation did not prevent Brodie from exploiting his fame as the heroic Brooklyn Bridge diver.

The newspaper published front page articles claiming astronomer Sir John Herschel discovered intelligent life on the moon. He had nothing to do with the stories. The Sun published further instalments until the public guessed they were pretty fishy.

He deftly joined the forty-two-kilometer marathon with less than a kilometer to the end and easily overtook the tired athletes. He found himself in the limelight as the Olympic champion, but officials quickly exposed the hoax.

Claim that hidden messages stating that Paul McCartney was dead could be heard when certain Beatles songs were played backwards. A legend arose that McCartney had died in a car accident and had been replaced by a look-alike.

In 1985 Sports Illustrated reported about a player almost 2 times faster than other player and never misses. He was supposedly under the guidance of the great Tibetan lamas Milaraspa. Many believed the story even though the article was joke contrived by Plimpton.

Published an ad for a new “Left-Handed Whopper”, specially designed for left-handed eaters. It was said the new burger had the same composition as the original Whopper, but all the ingredients were rotated 180 degrees.

Claimed to have discovered a Stone Age tribe living on the island of Mindanao. When President Marcos was toppled in 1986, 'tribesmen' were found living in houses and wearing normal clothes. By then the minister in question had fled with millions of dollars donated to help protect these so-called ancient people.

Supposedly fully functional automaton that could play chess and win against any human opponent. Several great minds tried to figure out how the machine worked, including Benjamin Franklin. In reality a man who manipulated the chess pieces was stowed inside the contraption.

A radio program that aired on Oct. 30, 1938, caused panic among millions. The radio play was made in the form of a report about the real invasion of Martians. People fought hysterically, jumped out of windows, and some claimed they witnessed the Martians, and only narrowly escaped death.